Mode of governing and reversing steam-engines



UNITED srArEs PATENT oEEioE.

JACOB D. oUsrER, or NonnrsfrowN, PENNsYLvANIA.

MODE or GOVEENING AND' REvEitsrNG STEAM-ENGINES, sw.

specification or Letters Patent No. 1,179; dated ,Time 21, 1839.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, J Aco D'. CUSTER, of Norristown, in the county ofMontgomery and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and iinpro-vedmode of governing steain-engiiies without diminishing the pressure ofthesteam and a new and improved mode of reversing the motion ofsteam-engines; and I do hereby declare that the followingl is ai fulland exact description.

The nature of my invention, for governing steam engines, withoutdiminishing the pressure of the steam, consists, in applying balls, orweights, to the fly wheel, or to its appendages; so that they may inoveout from the shaft, when the motion of the .wheel increases, and backagain, when the motion of the wheel diminishes. I apply a spring orsprings, to the appendages of these balls, to assist the friction of thecylinder valves, to keep these balls from flying out too soon, and to,force them back again, to the shaft of the Hy wheel, when the motion ofit diminishes. These governor balls, I hitch to thev arms, or brim ofthe fly wheel, by means of slides, or swinging levers. The balls, Ifasten on the long ends of the swinging levers, and on the short ends ofthem, or near the pin' onv which they swing, I fasten rods, so as toform joints'. These rods, I call the governor connecting rods.

And the other ends of these rods, I connect Y valve ro'd, and cylindervalves, stand still, while the wheels, and axle, make two thirds to pinswhich are on two stems of the tube of a shifting, eccentric, which open,and close the valves of the cylinder, or cylinders; so that when theballs move out from the shaft of the ily wheel, they operate on theshifting eccentric, by means of the governor connecting rods, and moveit forward, in relation to the dead points of the crank, and cut ott thesteam shorter, or nearer the dead points--that is, when the balls arein, it may be a threequarter stroke engine, and when they are out, itmay be a quarter stroke engine. Thus, whiley the cylinder valvesl areopen, the steam will' always strike the piston, with the same pressure,to the' square inch, that it has in the boiler, which is not the case inother governors, that govern by checking the progress of the steam,between the boiler, and the steam chest: for they' diminish the pressureof thel steam, so, that when it is up to one hundred pounds tothe squareinch, in the boiler, it is worked oft' in the steam chest and cylinder,at times, at, as low as ve pounds to the square inch: wl'ii'c'h isz atotal loss of all the power of so much` expansion.

yThe nature of my invention, for reversing the steam engine, consists,in applying a springlatch II, to' the tube F of the shifting eccentric,or eccentrics and a forward, and a backward motion notch, (shown at A,and B, in Figure 6,) to the axle, or shaft, for the spring latch to fallinto, and a banking pin (shown at A, and B, in Fig. 6) to the' back partof each of these notches, to prevent them from passing the latch. ThisVspring latch I make of sufficient strength, to resist the friction ofthe cylinder valves, for there is nothing but this latch, to preventthis shifting eccentric, from standing still when the engine is inmotion. And this spring latch H, top view Fig. 2, must be made to raiseout of the forwardl and backward motion notches, (shown in part at thebottom of the stem O, Fig. 2,

` and i'n whole at A, and B, in Fig. 6) but it 'must never be m'ade toraise as high as to permit the bankingv pins to pass under it, exceptingfor engines that require to be thrown out of gear. This spring latch is1 raised by a' lever, with a ring to the short ei'i'd of it, throughwhich' the tube of the shiftii'ig eccentric, and axle passes, and when lthis latch is raised, by this lever, and ring,

the latch and tube of the eccentric, the

of a revolution; [for the latch has two thirds of a revolution] to playin, between the two thanking pins: and when the latch is in the forwa'rdinotion notch, at the forward motion-banking pin, and the engine ismoving lforwa'rd, the eccentrics, stand' in such rela- ;tio'n to thedead points of the crank, as to gleave the steam enter the cylinders,after 1the' cranks have passed the dead points, Vwhich drives the engineforward. Now the .lever is pressed, and the latch raised out of thevforward motion notch, which is behind, `and at the bottom, of thebanking pin of Athe forward motion, and the latch, and all litsappendages, stand still, until the wheels, landr axle make two thirds ofa revolution, (or until the banking pin of the backward `motion:j comeslaround, behind the latch, and lcarries it along) which causes theeccentric, valve rod, and valves, to stand in such relailo y WI

tion to the dead points of the cranks, as to leave the steam, enter thecylinder, at the end toward which, the piston is moving, and now thepiston is checked, in its motion, and driven back,before it passes thecenter, or middle, of the cylinder, and the motion of the wheels ischanged.

To enable others skilled in the art, to make, and use my invent-ions, Iwill proceed to describe their construction, and operation.

The letter A, on the accompanying drawings, is the cylinder, with steamchest, slide valves, and pipes, as usual.

B, is the internal guide force pump. It, may be made on any of the knownforms.

C, is the water pipe, leading from the water tank, to the lower part ofthe force pump.

D, is the water pipe, leading from the upper branch of the force pump,to the boiler. It is shown in the drawings, top view Fig. 2, No. 2.

E, is the connecting rod. It, may be made in this, or any of the knownforms.

F, is the tube on which, the eccentric, or eccentrics, are fastened. It,is shown, in the drawings, top View, Fig. 2 No. 2. I slip this tube onthe axle, or shaft of the driving wheels, and fasten the eccentrics, toit, permanently. For a stationary engine, I make two stems to this tube,(shown at M, M, Fig. 1,) opposite to each other. The top of the one, isshown, at M, in the drawings, side view, Fig. 1, No. 1;) at the lowerend of the connecting rod I. This rod, is connected, to this stem, bymeans of a pin, and key, and a corresponding rod I, (shown by dottedmarks, Fig. 1, No. 1,) is hitched 'in the same manner to the other,opposite stem M, (shown by dotted marks, Fig. 1, No. 1,) of the tube F.

J, J, on the drawings, Fig. 1, No. 1, are the governor balls, orweights. I fasten them on the long ends of the swinging levers. Theseswinging levers, are, connected to two opposite arms, of the fly wheel,by means of pins and keys, so that the balls, may swing out, and in,between the arms of the fly wheel, as per draft. And to the short endsof these swinging levers, beyond the arms of the fly wheel to which theyare connected, I hitch, the governor connecting rods I, I, by pins, andkeys; so that when the motion of the fly wheel increases, and thecentrifugal force of the governor balls, overcomes the friction of thecylinder valves, and the spring K, the said balls, will fly out from theshaft of the fly wheel, and move in the rods I, I, and as the one end ofeach of these rods, is connected to opposite or, corresponding stems, onthe tube of the shifting eccentric,- they will move the tube F, and theeccentric, forward, in relation to the dead points of the crank, andcause the eccentric, the valve rod Gr, (on the drawings side view, Fig.1, N o. 1,) and the cylinder valves, to stand in such relation to thedead points of the crank, as to cut olf the steam shorter, or nearer thedead points of the crank, so that the engine will use off less steam andgo slower. That is the valves, will not close, when the governor ballsare in, until the piston is driven half way up the cylinder, but whenthe speed is great, and the balls are out the valves, will close, beforethe piston is driven one quarter up the cylinder. But while the valvesare open, the steam will always strike the piston, with the samepressure to the square inch, that it has in the boiler.

K, in the accompanying drawings, is the governor spring. I fasten it tothe brim of the Hy wheel, by means of a pin, and a set screw, so as toset it for more, or, less speed. This spring may be fastened to anyother suitable place on the wheel. It must be st-rong, so as to preventthe governor balls from flying out too soon, for they must be ofsuflicient weight, to prevent the friction of the cylinder valves, fromvibrating them. Then I make these governor balls light, I put a small,fly wheel to the tube F, on which the eccentric is fastened, to preventthe friction of the valves from vibrating them. This said fly wheel, isnot shown in the model nor drawings.

The steam engines, the motion of which require to be reversed, I makewithout the governor balls, or rods; and apply the spring latch, I-I, tothe tube F, (top view, Fig. 2 No. 2,) of the shifting eccentric, to keepit to its place, and to reverse the motion, by raising it out of itsnotches, by a lever, while the engine is in motion. This spring latch isshown at II, in top view, Fig. 2 No. 2, and in section No. 3, Fig. Ll.In top view, Fig. 2, this spring latch is shown, in its raised position,with the ring of the reverse lever N, at H, pressing on it at one, sideand the spring of the latch, pressing on it at the other side, also atI'I, and when the pressure of the lever N, is taken off, the spring atII, will press the long end, O, of this latch, into the notch at thebottom of it, opposite to H, at O. This notch, and its banking pin, andthe other notch, and banking pin, are better shown in section, No. 3,Fig. 6. This spring latch, is connected to the tube of the shiftingeccentric, by two screws, with square heads, (shown at P, l?, Fig. 4,and at P, on the tube F, Fig. 2.) and a pin at the small end of each ofthem: one of them, is screwed, into the latch H, at each side, so that apivot, eX- tends into a pivot hole, at each side of the tube, andpermits the latch to rise, and fall, so that when it is raised by thelever N, it will stop, with the shifting eccentric, valve rod, andvalves; until the banking pin, and notch, of the other motion comes upto it, and carries it along. The friction of the valves, will alwayscause the eccentrics to stand still, after the latch has been raised outof the forward motion notch, until the banking pin, of the other motion,comes up behind it, and carries it along, and it is the same, when thelatch is raised ont of the notch of the backward motion.

The banking pins, and notches, are shown in section No. 3, Fig. 6. Thisfigure represents the shaft, or axle of the driving wheels. The squareblack mark, and notch, at A, in this figure is the banking pin andnotch, of the forward motion, and the square black mark, and notch, atB, in this ligure is the banking pin and notch, of the backward motion.

Section, Fig. 4, represents the latch H, and its spring, pressing on itatH. The stem, or pin on it, at the opposite side to H, at O, is thepart of it, that catches in the notch at A, in Fig. 6, in forwardmotion, and in the notch at B, in this ligure for backward motion. Nowif this spring latch was unscrewed, and the short end of it, put wherethe long end of it now is, (as it is shown at H, in the drawings topView Fig. 2) so that the spring would press against the nipple, on theshort end of it; and so that the long end, O, of it, would stand in thenotch, at the bottom of the banking pin, of the forward motion, shown atA, in Fig. 6, then the steam would enter the cylinder, just after the4cranks had passed the dead points, which would drive the engineforward. Now suppose the engine is going forward, the top of the wheelof the model, moving toward the cylinder, or the top of Fig. 6 moving tothe right, and the long end of the latch H, in the notch, at the backpart, and bottom of the banking pin of the forward motion, shown at A,in Fig. 6. Now the lever N, is pressed against the short end of thelatch H, and the long end of it, is raised out of the forward motionnotch (shown at A, in Fig. G) and the latch H, the shifting eccentrics,the valve rods, and the cylinder valves, stand still, until the bankingpin, of the backward motion, comes up behind the stem of the latch, andcarries it along. Now the eccentrics, the valve rods, and valves, standin such relation to the dead points of the cranks, as to have the steamenter the cylinders, at the end, toward which, the piston is moving, andnow the motion of piston is checked, before it had passed the middle ofthe cylinder; the long end of the latch H, has fallen into the no-tch,at the bottom of the banking pin of the backward motion, shown at B, inFig. 6, and the engine, is moving ba-ckward. Now to set it forward, Ipress the lever N, and raise the latch, ont of the backward motionnotch, at B, Fig. 6, and the latch, and its appendages, stand still,until the banking pin of the forward motion, comes to it, which puts onfor ward steam, and the latch falls into the notch of the forwardmotion, and the engine moves forward.

If the lever N, is pressed, when the speed of the engine is great, thebanking pin of the other motion will always come to the stem of thelatch H, and carry it along, until the steam checks the speed, andchanges the motion of the engine, so that it is only necessary for thelatch to fall into the notch of the other motion, before it commences.It cannot fail to reverse, at any speed; for as soon as the banking pin,of the other motion, comes to the stem of the latch H, the steam, of themotion, that, that banking pin, and notch, is intended to give, is on,but when the momentum is great, it, is forced back, out of the cylinder,into the steam chest, and boiler, until the motion commences, which thatbanking pin, and notch is intended to give.

Section, Fig. 5, represents the lever N, by which the latch, H, israised, out of the notches at the bottom of the banking pins, shown atA, and B, in Fig. 6. This lever N, I call the reverse lever. It has aring, to the short end of it, through which, the axle, and tube, of theshifting eccentrics, pass. I, connect this lever to the frame, by a pin,or joint, so that the ring of it, may move out, and in on the tube ofthe shifting eccentrics, to raise the latch H. This Iatch, is now,unscrewed, on account of the governor, for the governor, and the reversemotion, cannot work together. To put the machine in order to reverse,the governor balls, and rods, must be taken off, and the latch H,unscrewed, and changed, so that the short end of it presses against thenipple, on the short end of the latch.

The same pressure of the lever N, will always reverse the motion theengine has, when it is pressed. The pressure of this lever, must alwaysend, before the other motion commences, so that the stem of the latch,H, at O, may fall into the notch at the bottom of the banking pin of theother motion, before, it, commences.

I makev four, siX, or more holes in the tube F, to set a lever into, toreverse the engine, when it is standing still, and to work the valves byshifting the eccentrics around when the lat-ch H, is raised by the leverN. These holes are shown, by three black marks, on the tube F, in topview, Fig. 2 No. 2. l/Jhen it is necessary, for the engine to be thrownout of gear, I make the lever N, so that it will raise the latch H, sohigh, as to have the banking pins pass it, which throws the engine outof gear.

That I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The attaching of the governor balls, in steam engines, to the flywheel of the engine, and the connecting them to the eccentric in themanner herein specified, by which means, the' eccentric is made to move,backward, and forward, in relation to the dead points of the crank, andthus cut off the steam, shorter, and longer.

2. I also claim the mode of reversing, the motion, of the steam engine,by means of a spring latch, attached to the tube of the shiftingeccentric, in the manner specified, which latch has a projecting pinupon it which falls into notches placed on the nave of the wheel, andout of which notches, the

latch is raised, by means of a lever, and ring, when the engine is inmotion; all as herein described: using for these purposes 15 anymaterial, and proportions which may answer best.

JACOB D. CUSTER.

